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DoD Updates Policy on GAO Investigations

A newly updated Department of Defense Instruction sets forth Pentagon policy on interactions with the Government Accountability Office, the congressional investigative agency. “It is DoD policy that the Department of Defense cooperate fully with the GAO and respond constructively to, and take appropriate corrective actions on the basis of, GAO reports,” the new Instruction (pdf) […]

12.04.06 | 1 min read
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FAS
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FBIS Views the Future of Soviet Space (1987)

“The USSR is publicly discussing an ambitious array of manned and unmanned space missions … planned over the next quarter century,” the CIA’s Foreign Broadcast Information Service reported in a 1987 internal assessment (pdf). “Recent items in the Soviet press and scientific literature… have provided new details on Soviet space plans from the present through […]

12.04.06 | 1 min read
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Global Risk
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Jason Releases Summary of Long-awaited Plutonium Aging Report

A key uncertainty affecting our confidence in the long-term reliability of nuclear weapons is the stability of the plutonium in the core, or “pit.” The pit is a sphere or shell of plutonium that is compressed by conventional explosives to create the supercritical mass required to sustain a nuclear chain reaction. In hydrogen bombs, this […]

12.03.06 | 1 min read
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FAS
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Killing Habeas Corpus

Habeas corpus refers to the right of a person who has been detained by the government to challenge his detention in a court of law. Although the U.S. Constitution does not permit the suspension of habeas corpus except in case of invasion or rebellion, last September Congress did so anyway at the behest of the […]

12.01.06 | 1 min read
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FAS
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New from JASON

The elite JASON defense science advisory panel, most of whose deliberations and conclusions are classified, surfaced publicly for a moment with two new releases. One new JASON report addresses the feasibility of reducing Defense Department dependence on fossil fuels. “In light of an increasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, as well as rising fuel costs […]

12.01.06 | 1 min read
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FAS
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Navy Mind Control

U.S. Navy research on “mind control techniques” cannot be performed on human subjects without the authorization of the Under Secretary of the Navy, according to a new Navy Instruction (pdf). “The Under Secretary of the Navy (UNSECNAV) is the Approval Authority for research involving … severe or unusual intrusions, either physical or psychological, on human […]

12.01.06 | 1 min read
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FAS
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Odds and Ends

U.S. Air Force policy on “information operations” — which includes electronic warfare, psychological operations, military deception, counter-propaganda and more — is described in a recently updated Air Force Policy Document. See “Information Operations” (pdf), AFPD 10-7, 6 September 2006 (revised 8 Oct 06). The apparent involvement of the North Korean government in drug trafficking and […]

12.01.06 | 1 min read
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Global Risk
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New Report: Chinese Nuclear Forces and U.S. Nuclear War Planning

An incipient nuclear arms race is emerging between China and the United States, according to a new report published today by the Federation of American Scientists and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The 250-page report, Chinese Nuclear Forces and U.S. Nuclear War Planning, outlines the status and possible future development of China’s nuclear weapons, describes […]

11.30.06 | 5 min read
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FAS
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Burden of Proof in AIPAC Case is “Not Insubstantial,” Court Says

A federal court this month denied a motion that would have eased the government’s prosecution of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who are charged with mishandling classified information. Prosecutors had argued that they should not be obliged to prove that the defendants “actually knew the disclosure of the information was […]

11.29.06 | 3 min read
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NRC is Not Secretive Enough, Says NBC News

Thousands of sensitive Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents regarding nuclear power plant security and vulnerability are publicly available in public document rooms across the country, NBC News reported on November 27 in a rather breathless “hidden camera” investigation that illustrates the difficulty that some people have in thinking clearly about secrecy and security. “Many of the […]

11.29.06 | 3 min read
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FAS
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Some Notable CRS Reports

When new leadership takes control in the 110th Congress, the public may finally gain routine online access to finished products of the Congressional Research Service. The prospects for adopting this simple change in disclosure policy are enhanced by the fact that such a move would not require Bush Administration concurrence. For the time being, however, […]

11.27.06 | 1 min read
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FAS
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Tackling Sensitive But Unclassified Information

The proliferation of new restrictions on the disclosure of information that is designated “sensitive but unclassified” (SBU) has been the subject of much churning within the national security policy apparatus this year. Last December, President Bush ordered the development of recommendations to standardize procedures for marking information as SBU. By some counts, there are more […]

11.27.06 | 2 min read
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